Nigeria’s cost of importing premium motor spirit and other petroleum products soared to N15.4 trillion in 2024 from N7.5 trillion despite the commencement and restart of local refineries in 2024.
This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics combined foreign trade data for 2024.
Earlier, DAILY POST reported that petrol imports dominated foreign trade in the last quarter of 2024 as total merchandise trade hit N36,604.83 billion.
Meanwhile, a further analysis showed that in the past three quarters of the year under review, petrol imports increased by 105 percent to N15.4 trillion.
Accordingly, over the past five years, Nigeria’s petrol import bill witnessed a geometric rise. In 2020, the country spent N2.01 trillion on fuel imports, more than doubling to N4.56 trillion in 2021.
By 2022, the figure further increased to N7.71tn before slightly declining to N7.51tn in 2023.
However, in 2024, fuel import expenditure surged to an all-time high of N15.42 trillion, marking the largest petrol import bill in Nigeria’s history.
The development showed that Nigeria is yet to double down on petrol imports despite improved local production capacity.
In 2024 Nigerian local refineries such as Dangote Refinery kicked off petrol production.
Similarly, Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries restarted operation in the same period.
More specific analysis indicated that in February 2025, oil marketers in Nigeria imported petrol valued at around N935 billion.
Also, petrol marketers imported marketers products worth N5.5 trillion between October 2024 and January this year, data from NBS and Nigerian Port Authority showed.
Reacting to the development, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, earlier said that importation promotes competition, helping drive down the price of PMS.
“What importation does for us is that it contributes to the market’s competitiveness. The price movements you are enjoying and the market competition are the result of importation. Importation is useful,” he stated.
This comes as the President of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, while kicking against continued petrol imports in February 2025, said that his 650,000 barrels per day can meet 100 percent of Nigeria’s petrol demand.
But the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority recently said that local refineries, including Dangote Refinery, met only 50 percent of Nigeria’s petrol requirements in February 2025.
NMDPRA’s comments came amid speculation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has continued to import fuel.
However, NNPC denied importing fuel in 2025.
Nigerians currently buy petrol between N860 and N970 per litre depending on the location across the country.
Earlier, we reported that the petrol price war between Dangote Refinery and NNPCL has pushed the price down to as low as N860 per litre, in Lagos and N880 in Abuja.
